Apparatus for automatically fabricating individual articles

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for automatically fabricating individual articles, such as blankets and the like, from a continuous length of textile material comprising the following component parts. Supply means supplying a continuous length of textile material. First interrelated, intertimed feeding means feeding the continuous length of material from the supply means in an elongate path of travel along a longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus. First and second driven stitching means applying lines of stitching along the longitudinal edges of the continuous length of material into a plurality of successive individual articles of a predetermined length. Turning means successively turning each individually cut article 90* for continued travel through the apparatus. Second interrelated, intertimed feeding means receiving the individually cut articles from the turning means and feeding them in a continued elongate path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus. Third and fourth driven stitching means applying lines of stitching along the cut edges of each of the individually cut turned articles so that each of the articles will be stitched along all four of its edges.

I United States Patent 13,580,198

[72] Inventors Richard K. Teed 3,097,733 7/1963 Frydryk ll2/l21.l5X Greenwood, S.C.; 3,345,965 10/1967 Gore 1l2/l21.l5 Karl muse Fmdlay Ohm Primary Examiner-James R. Boler [21] Appl' 853225 Attome -Parrott Bell Seltzer Park and Gibson 22 Filed Aug. 26, 1969 y i Patented May 25, 1971 Asslgnee Riegel Textile Corporation ABSTRACT: Apparatus for automatically fabricating inwm Shoals dividual articles, such as blankets and the like, from a continuous length of textile material comprising the following component parts. Supply means supplying a continuous length of [54] APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY textile material. l-irst interrelated, intertimed feeding means FABRICATING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES feeding the continuous length of material from the supply 14 Chims 10 Drawing Figs means in an elongate path of travel along a longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus. First and second driven 52 U.S. Cl. ..112/121.11, stitching means applying lin s of stitching along the longitu- 1 1 12/155 dinal edges of the continuous length of material into a plurali- [51] Int. Cl D05b 19/00 ty of Successive individual articles f a predetermined length Field of Search 1 12/2, Turning means successively t ing each individually cut arti- 12112, 262, cle for continued travel through the apparatus. Second interrelated, intertimed feeding means receiving the individually 56] References Cited cut articles from the turning means and feeding them in a continued elongate path of travel along the aforesaid longitu- UNITED STATES PATENTS dinally extending axis through the apparatus. Third and fourth 2,667,132 1/1954 Golden 1 12/10 driven stitching means applying lines of stitching along the cut 2,694,372 11/1954 Hadfield 112/ 10X edges of each of the individually cut turned articles so that 2,834,307 5/1958 Jones Et. al 1 l2/ 1 1X each of the articles will be stitched along all four of its edges.

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ATTORNEYS APPARATUS F OR AUTOMATICALLY F ABRICATING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES This invention relates to apparatus for automatically fabricating individual articles, such as blankets and the like, from a continuous length of textile material.

In the prior manufacture of blankets, handkerchiefs and other like articles in which it is necessary to cut individual articles from a continuous length of textile material, stitch the individually cut article along all four of the edges, etc., it has usually been necessary to carry out a series of different steps in the manufacturing process by a series of separate operators, either manually or with separate machines. This necessarily involved a large number of operators, time consumption, inefficiency, nd costliness. Other disadvantages of this prior type of manufacture were the amount of space necessary to hold these separate operators and machines and the human element involved in these separate operations by separate operators produced a tendency toward nonuniformity in the finished products.

Prior attempts of providing a completely automatic machine for the fabrication of these types of articles have not p'roven satisfactory, particularly from a control standpoint, inasmuch as the continuous length of material and the individual articles cut therefrom were fed in numerous directions with respect to a longitudinal axis through the apparatus for effecting the desired stitching, cutting, etc., operations. Also, the feeding of the continuous web and the feeding of the individually cut articles were cumbersome, unrelated, untimed, etc., such that bunching up of the material and malfunctioning of various portions of the apparatus resulted.

Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide an apparatus for completely and automatically fabricating individual articles, such as blankets or the like, from a continuous length of textile material, thereby eliminating various operators, cutting down on time consumption, increasing efficiency, reducing costs, conserving space and increasing uniformity in the finished product.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an automatic fabricating apparatus which feeds a continuous length of textile material back and forth along a longitudinal axis through the apparatus in interrelated, intertimed relationship past a plurality of working stations including a means for cutting the continuous length of textile material into a plurality of successive individual articles, and which feeds each of the individually cut articles back and forth along the longitudinal axis through the apparatus in interrelated, intertimed relationship past a plurality of working stations.

By this invention, it has been found that the above objects may be accomplished by providing an apparatus comprising the following basic component parts.

The apparatus includes a supply means for supplying a continuous length of textile material thereto. A first interrelated, intertimed feeding means, preferably operated from a single motor means, is provided for feeding the continuous length of material from the supply means in an elongate path of travel along a longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus. First and second driven stitching means are disposed adjacent the supply means in the path oftravel ofthe continuous length of material for applying lines of stitching along the longitudinal edges of the continuous length of textile material. Cutting means are disposed adjacent the first and second stitching means in the path of travel of the continuous length of material for transversely cutting the continuous length of material into a plurality of successive individual articles of a predetermined length.

Disposed adjacent the cutting means is a turning means for successively turning each individually cut article 90 for continued travel through the apparatus. Second interrelated, intertimed feeding means, preferably operated from a single motor means, is operatively associated with the turning means for receiving the individually cut articles from the turning means and feeding them in a continued elongate path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus. Third and fourth driven stitching means are applying lines of stitching along the cut edges ofeach ofthe individually cut articles so that each of the articles will be stitched along all four of its edges.

Some of the objects and advantages of this invention having been stated, other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings, in which:

FIGS. I and 1A are side elevational views of the apparatus of this invention, FIG. 1A being a continuation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a blanket which may be fabricated by the apparatus of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective, schematic view of the apparatus of this invention illustrating particularly the drive means utilized in the apparatus in somewhat exploded, diagrammatic form;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical crosssectional view taken through a portion of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 1A and illustrating particularly the cutting means and turning means along with associated conveyor means utilized in the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the portion of the apparatus of this invention illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6, 6A and 6B are perspective, diagrammatic views of the apparatus of this invention illustrating in diagrammatic form the operation of various components therein, FIG. 6A being a continuation of FIG. 6 and FIG. 68 being a continuation of FIG. 6A; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic wiring diagram of the apparatus of this invention.

Referringnow to the drawings, the complete apparatus of this invention as viewed from one of the longitudinally extending sides thereof is shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A and generally designated therein by the reference numeral 10. The apparatus 10 includes a stationary frame, the various portions and component parts thereof being collectively designated by the reference numeral 11, for supporting the various components of the apparatus 10 on the floor or other surface along a generally longitudinally extending axis being with the lefthand side of FIG. 1 and extending through the right-hand side of FIG. 1A. The apparatus 10 further comprises the following component parts.

A supply means 12 is provided for supplying a continuous length of textile material'M. This supply means 12 comprises a roll stand means 13 for carrying a roll 14 of material M in the active or feeding position and a roll 14 of material M in the reserve position. The roll stand means is also adapted to lift the rolls of material M from the floor and maintain these rolls in the aforementioned reserve and active positions and forms the subject matter of copending application Ser. No. 700,277, filed Jan. 24, 1968, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and reference may be had to that application for further details thereof.

The supply means 12 further comprises a feed roll 16 mounted in suitable bearings (not shown) on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 for receiving the continuous length of textile material M thereover and feeding the same from the roll stand means 13. The feed roll 16 is driven by a suitable motor, belt and pulley drive means 17. The continuous length of material M passes from the feed roll 16 into a scray mechanism 18 which forms a part of the supply means 12. The scray mechanism 18 is pivoted as at 19 to a portion of the apparatus frame I l for receiving a predetermined excess amount of the continuous length of textile material from the feed roll 16 and for moving downwardly under the weight of the excess amount of material against the influence of any suitable biasing means, shown schematically at 20 in FIG. 6, to stop operation of the feed roll 16 when the predetermined excess amount of the continuous length of material M has been received in the scray means 18.

This is accomplished, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 6, by locating a switch 21, which is suitably electrically connected with the motor 17 driving the feed roll 1.6, in such a position as to be actuated by the downward pivotal movement of the scray means 18 under the weight ofa predetermined excess amount of the continuous length of textile material M for shutting off operation of the motor 17.

From the supply means 12, the continuous length of textile material M is fed in a zigzag or back-andforth path of travel along the aforementioned longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus by a first feeding means, generally indicated by the reference numeral in FIG. 3. This first feeding means includes various tensioning rolls, idler guide rolls, feed rolls, conveyors, and drives therefore, as follows.

Firstly, there is provided a group of tensioning rolls 31 of conventional construction mounted on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 for tensioning the continuous length of material M as it leaves the scray mechanism 18. From the tensioning rolls 31 the continuous length of material M is fed back in a reverse direction around an idler roll 32 suitably mounted in bearings'on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and around idler roll 33 also suitably mounted in bearings on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 to be fed in a forwardly ex tending direction. From the idler roll 33, the continuous length of material M passes under and over a pair of positioning rolls 35 and 36 suitably mounted for rotation in bearings on transversely of the continuous length of material M for positioning of the longitudinal edge thereof, as will be described hereinafter.

From the rolls 35 and 36, the continuous length of material M passes vertically downwardly and around an idler roll 37, suitably mounted for rotation on a portion of the apparatus frame 11, to reverse its direction and be fed in a generally horizontal plane .in a rearward direction. The continuous length of material M then passes around a pair of idler rolls 38 and 39, suitably mounted for rotation on the apparatus frame 11, such that the continuous length of material M is fed downwardly in a vertical plane and then forwardly in a generally horizontal plane. From the roll 39, the continuous length of material M passes between a pair of driven rotating nip rolls 40 and 41 carried by the apparatus frame 11 for the feeding of the continuous length of material M around, over and under each ofthe above-described rolls.

From the nip rolls 40 and 41, the continuous length of material M passes in an alternating up-and-down, generally vertical, path of travel over and under and over again a set of three tensioning rolls 42, 43 and 44, respectively. The middle roll 43 is a dancing roll and is suitably mounted in a slot in a portion of the apparatus frame 11 for the well-known tensioning or dancing motion to apply or form a uniform tension in the continuous length of-material M as it travels through the three rolls 42, 43 and 44. The rolls 42 and 44 are mounted by suitable bearings on a portion of the apparatus frame 11.

From the roll 44, the continuous length of material M passes through a pair of driven nip rolls 45 and 46 suitably mounted for rotation in a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and driven in a manner to be described belowv From the nip rolls 45 and 46, the continuous length of material M passes in a generally horizontal path of travel onto a set of parallel conveyor belts 48 which extend around and are driven by a driven roll 49 and idler roll 50 both suitably mounted for rotation on a portion of the apparatus frame 11.

For driving of the driven rolls 41, 46 and 49 so that the feed of the continuous length ofmaterial M around, over and under each of the above-described rolls and past fabricating ap paratus, to be described hereinafter, in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the continuous length of material along the longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus, there is provided a single motor means which rotates a pulley 56 on which is mounted a belt 57 which also passes around and drives a pulley 58 of a speed reduction unit 59. The speed reduction unit 59 drives a pulley 60 which carries a belt 61 passing around a pulley 62 on the end of a shaft 63 carrying a sprocket 66 on a shaft 67 extending from the driven nip roll 46 for the driving thereof. The shaft 67 includes a clutch 68 on one end thereof and a brake 69 on the other end thereof for allowing driving of the roll 46 when the clutch 68 is engaged and for stopping the driving of the roll 46 when the brake 69 is engaged, for the purposes to be hereinafter described.

The shaft 63 also carries a sprocket 70 which drives a chain 71 which passes around a sprocket 72 on a stub shaft 73. The stub shaft 73 also carries a sprocket 74 which carries a chain 75 passing around a sprocket 76 carried by a shaft 77 extending from the driven nip roll 41 for the driving of the nip roll 41 and nip roll 40 which is in frictional engagement therewith. The shaft 67 further carries a pulley which has a belt .81

passing therearound and also around a pulley 82 on the end of I a shaft 83 which extends from the roll 49 carrying the set of conveyor belts 48 for the driving of the conveyor belts 48 in a forward direction.

Thus, it may be seen that the first feeding means 30 includes a single motor means and interconnected drive means driven by the motor means and operatively connected with various portions of the first feeding means for driving the various por tions of the first feeding means in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the continuous length of material M through the apparatus. This type of feeding means controlled by a single motor means and by interconnected drive means eliminates the possibility of malfunction which would occur if various motor means and unconnected drive means were utilized.

For stitching the longitudinally extending edges of the continuous web of material M as it is fed by the above-deseribed first feeding means 30, there is provided first and second driven stitching means and 91 for applying lines of stitching, preferably overedge stitching along opposite longitudinally extending edges of the travel continuous length of material M as it is fed by the first feeding means 30.

The stitching means 90 comprises a driven sewing machine 92 of conventional design for applying a line of overedge stitching. The sewing machine 92 is driven by a pulley 93 extending from the drive shaft thereof and disposed on the rear end of the machine 92. The pulley 93 is driven by a belt 94 which is in turn driven by a suitable pulley (not shown) extending from a shaft 95. The shaft 95 carries a pulley 96 on the other end thereof (see FIG. 3) which is driven by a belt 97. The belt 97 is carried by an idler pulley 98 and is driven by a pulley 99 extending from a shaft 100 from the speed reduction unit 59 and, therefore, is driven by the above-described motor means 55.

The sewing machine 92 is mounted on a movable plate or carriage 102 which is carried in a cutout or slot in a stationary plate 103 mounted on a suitable portion of the apparatus frame 11 between rolls 37 and 38. The slot or cutout in plate 103 extends transversely of the continuous length of material M such that the sliding or movable plate 102 and the sewing machine 92 may be moved forwardly and reversely in a linear path of travel in a direction transverse to the continuous length of material M and to the path of travel of the continuous length of material M through the apparatus 10.

This forward and reverse movement of the sewing machine 92 is provided by a suitable double-acting, fluid operated piston and cylinder mechanism which is suitably mounted on the stationary plate 103 and is connected atthe forward end of the piston shaft to an arm 104 which is also connected to the sliding or movable plate 102 such that movement of the arm 104 by the piston and cylinder mechanism 105 will effect movement of the plate 102 and the sewing machine 92.

The piston and cylinder mechanism 105 is controlled by an edge sensing mechanism 106 which may be of any convenient construction and as illustrated in the drawings is an air stream actuated edge sensing mechanism which operates in a manner well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art to exert an air stream across the horseshoe shaped sensing head. The sensing head is operatively connected through air lines 107 to a control valve 108, shown schematically in FIG. 6, which also receives a supply of pressurized fluid from a pressure source. The control valve includes fluid conveying lines 109 and 110 which lead to opposite sides of the piston and cylinder mechanism 105. The above sensing head 106 and piston and cylinder mechanism 105 operate in such a manner that if the I longitudinally extending edges of the continuous length of material M passing through the sensing head 106 moves in a transverse direction toward or away from the sewing machine 92, the piston and cylinder mechanism 105 will be operated to correspondingly move the sewing machine 92 forwardly or reversely in its transverse linear path of movement so as to always be aligned with the longitudinally extending edge of the continuous length of material M.

The second sewing means 91 comprises a driven sewing machine 110 suitably mounted stationary on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 along the other longitudinally extending side of the continuous length of material M so as to apply a line of overedge stitching along the other side of the continuous length of material M as it passes between idler roll 39 and driven nip rolls 40 and 41. The sewing machine 110 is driven by a pulley 111 attached to the end of the main drive shaft of the sewing machine 110. The pulley 111 is driven by belt 112 which passes around a pulley 113 on the end of a shaft 114. The shaft 114 carries a pulley 115 on the other end thereof which is driven by the above-described belt 97 so that the sewing machine 110 will be driven by the motor means 55 in the manner described above.

For aligning the longitudinally extending edge of the traveling continuous length of. material M with the sewing machine 110 for assuring that the line of overedge stitching is properly located, there is also provided an edge sensing mechanism 120, which may be of the same type as the edge sensing mechanism 106, to control a double-actingjfluid operated piston and cylinder device 121 through air lines 123 and control valve 124 which receives a source of pressurized air and feeds the same through lines 125 and 126 to opposite ends of the piston and cylinder mechanism 121. The forwardly extending shaft of the piston and'cylinder mechanism 121is operatively connected with the ends of positioning rolls 35 and 36 for transversely moving the positioning rolls 35 and 36 back and forth in a direction transverse to the continuous length of textile material M. Therefore, the edge sensing means 120 will operate to move the positioning rolls 35 and 36 through control valve 124 and piston and cylinder mechanism 121 for moving the continuous web of textile material back and forth in a transverse direction for aligning the longitudinally extending edge of the continuous length of textile material M with the sewing machine 110.

The above-described mechanism per se including the movable sewing machine 92, the edge sensing means 106 controlling same, the material aligning nip rolls 35 and 36, the edge sensing means 120 controlling same and the stationary sewing machine 110 is more fully described in copending application, Ser. No. 853,224, filed Aug. 26, 1969, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, and reference may be had tothat application for full details of the operation thereof.

After having been stitched on each longitudinally extending side, the continuous length of material M is fed by the abovedescribed first feeding means 30 to a cutting mechanism,

generally indicated at 130. The cutting mechanism 130 is disposed between the driven feed rolls 45 and 46 and the set of conveyor belts 48 comprising part of the above described first feeding means 30. The cutting means 130 includes a stationary cutting blade 131 suitably carried by a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and located below the path of travel of the continuous length of material M and includes a cutting surface extending transversely of the continuous length of material M. The cutting means 130 further comprises a movable cutting blade 132 arranged for vertical up-and-down movement in suitable slots in block members 134 secured to portions of the apparatus frame 11 (see FIG. 5). For effecting up-and-down movement of the cutting blade 132, there is attached thereto an upstanding plate member 135 which carries a rack member 136 on each side thereof, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Each of the rack members 136 is engaged by a pinion member 137 carried on a shaft 138 which is mounted for rotation in suitable bearing at each end thereof on the apparatus frame 11. For reciprocating the shaft 138 and thus the pinions 137 back and forth to reciprocate the rack members 136 and thus the cutting blade 132 up and down to effect a cutting engagement with the stationary blade 131, there is provided a double-acting, fluid operated piston and cylinder mechanism 140 having the piston shaft thereof pivotally secured to an arm 141 which is attached to the shaft 138 such that when the piston and cylinder shaft extends, the pinions will be reciprocated in one direction to move the rack in an upward direction bringing the cutting blade 132 to an upward position out of engagement with the stationary blade 131. Likewise, when the piston and cylinder mechanism shaft is retracted, the cutting blade will be moved downwardly into cutting engagement with the stationary blade 131' to effect transverse cutting of the continuous web of material M.

Thus, it may be seen that as a predetermined length of the continuous web of textile material is fed past the cutting mechanism 130 onto conveyor belts 48, the cutting mechanism will be actuated, by a means to be described hereinafter, to effect a cutting action between the blades 131 and 132 to cut off a predetermined length of the continuous web of the material M to form successive individual articles A of a predetermined length.

After having been cut by the above-described cutting mechanism 130, the individually cut articles A are resting on the set of conveyor belts 48-and have been stitched on the two longitudinally extending sides thereof and are in position for being turned 90 for continued travel along the longitudinal axis of the apparatus 10 for stitching along the other two sides thereof which will be the longitudinally extending sides after the individual articles A have been turned For the turning of each of the individual articles A there is provided a turning means, generally indicated in the drawings at 150.

The turning means comprises a hollow suction box 151 which is of a generally rectangular configuration and positioned in one position thereof over the conveyor belts 48. The suction box 151 includes a plurality of perforations 152 in the lower surface thereof and an air conduit 153 communicating with the interior of the suction box through the upper surface thereof. The conduit 153 leads to a suitable fan mechanism 154 which is suitably operated to create a source of negative pressure or suction through the conduit 153 and the suction box 151 to provide a vacuum or sucking action through the perforations 152 on the lower surface of the suction box 151.

The conduit 153 includes a rotary joint 155 allowing the suction box 151 to rotate or turn with respect to the conduit 153. The suction box 151 is carried in a position slightly above the path of travel of the individual articles A by carriage mechanism comprising a pair of longitudinally extending rods 156 and 157 suitably mounted on upstanding portions of the apparatus frame 11 (see FIG. 5) and by rollers 158 suitably secured to a portion of the rotary joint 155 so that the suction box 151 and the flexible conduit 153 may be reciprocated back and forth in a linear path of travel along the longitudinally extending axis through the apparatus 10.

For effecting the above linear path of travel, there is provided a double-acting, fluid operated cylinder and piston mechanism 160 having a forwardly extending piston shaft 161 which is attached to a portion of the rotary joint 155 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) such that when the piston and cylinder mechanism 160 is actuated in one direction, the shaft 161will extend to position the suction box 151 in its rearward position (see solid line position in FIG. 4) and when the shaft 161 is retracted by operating the piston and cylinder mechanism 160 in the opposite direction, the suction box will be moved to a forwardly extending position (see dotted line position in FIG. 4), as explained more fully hereinafter.

The suction box 151 is also rotated 90during its above described linear path of travel from the rearward position to the forward position. This is effected by providing pivotally mounted slide box 165 secured to a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and having a shaft 166 extending therethrough in sliding relationship therewith. The forward end of the shaft 166 is secured to an upstanding plate 167 which is attached to the top of the suction box 151 and the shaft also passes through a guide plate 168 in sliding relationship thereto. By this arrangement which acts as a pivot for suction box 151, as may be seen particularly in FIG. including the dotted line showings thereof, the suction box 151 will rotate 90 when moved to the forward position (dotted line position of FIG. 4) through the pivoting action of shaft 166, sliding block 165, guide plate 168 and plate 167.

For operation of the above-described structure of the turning means 150, the suction box 151 is positioned in its rearward position, as shown in solid lines in FIG. 4, when the cutting mechanism 130 has been actuated to cut off an individual article A. A source of suction is then created in the suction box 151 and the individual article A will be sucked up onto the upper surface of the suction box 151. The fluid operated cylinder mechanism 160 will be actuated to cause forward linear movement of the suction box 151 while turning I 90 to position the suction box in its forward position, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4. When the suction box has reached its forward position, the suction therein will be released which will release the individual article A onto a set of parallel conveyor belts 170 for continued travel through the apparatus 10. The conveyor belts 170 are carried by an idler roll 173 mounted by suitable bearings on the apparatus frame 11 and by a driven roll 174 mounted by suitable bearings on the apparatus frame 11 and having a clutch means 215 on one end thereof and a brake means 216 on the other end thereof.

. The 90 rotation of the suction box 151 will likewise cause a 90 rotation of the individual article A carried thereby such that when the article A is released by the suction box 151 and received on the set of conveyor belts 170, the previously stitched edges will extend transversely of the path of movement of the individual article A through the remainder of the apparatus and the unstitched edges will then become the longitudinally extending edges.

The first of these controls is associated with the tensioning rolls 42, 43 and 44 and includes a first switch 300 operatively positioned with respect to the tensioning, dancing roll 43 so that when the roll 43 reaches a lower extremity of its path of travel, assuring that a suitable supply of the continuous length of material M is present, the switch 300 will be'contacted thereby. The switch 300 is operatively connected with the clutch 68 and brake 69 so as to engage the clutch 68 and release the brake 69 when contacted by the roll 43 so that the nip rolls 45 and 46 will feed the continuous web of material M through the cutting mechanism 130. The tensioning roll mechanism 42, 43 and 44 also includes switches 301 and 302 disposed at opposite upward and lower extremities such that if too much material is received in the tensioning roll mechanism andthe dancing roll 43 has extended to'an extreme lower position, the switch 302 will be engaged which will shut-off operation of the entire apparatus 10. Also, if too little material is received in the tensioning mechanism and the dancing roll 43 reaches an upward extremity of its path of travel, the switch 301 will be engaged thereby and will shut-off operation of the entire apparatus 10.

With the switch 300 engaged. the continuous web of material M will be fed past the cuttingmechanism 130 until the leadswitch 305 and the contact 306 are also operatively connected with a solenoid 307 connected to a valve 308 which has a conduit 309 connected thereto and leading from a pressure source, indicated schematically in FIG. 6A. The valve 308 includes lines 310 and 311 leading to opposite sides of the double-acting piston and cylinder controlling the cutting mechanism 130. Thus, when the switch 305 engages the contact 306 to complete a circuit therethrough, the solenoid 307 will be actuated to allow operation of the piston and cylinder mechanism 140 in one direction for downward movement of the blade 132 into cutting engagement with the blade 131 to cause a cutting action of the cutting mechanism 130 for serving a predetermined length of the continuous web of material M to form an individually cut article A.

Upon downward movement of the movable cutting blade 132, a switch 315 is actuated. The switch 315 is operatively connected with a solenoid 316 on a valve mechanism 317 which includes a conduit 318 leading from the pressure source and a conduit 319 leading to a spring-loaded valve 320 which when actuated, by the opening of the valve 317 through the solenoid 316 upon actuation of the switch 315, will allow the fan 154 to cause a source of suction in the turning mechanism and the turning box 151 so as to suck up the individually cut article which has just been cut by the cutting mechanism 130 for the above-described turning movement.

Downward movement of the movable blade 132 of the cutting mechanism 130 also actuates a switch 325 which breaks the circuit from switch 305 to solenoid 307 and is operatively connected with a solenoid 330 on the other side of the valve 308 to actuate the solenoid 330 and open the con duit 311 to the other side of the double-acting piston and cylinder mechanism 140 to reverse the operation of the cutting means 130 and allow the upward movement of the cutting blade 132.

Downward movement of the movable blade 132 of the cutting mechanism 130 also actuates a switch 332 and a switch 333 which are both operatively connected with a solenoid 334-connected to one side of a valve 335 which includes a conduit 336 leading from a pressure source and includes conduits 337 and 338 leading to opposite sides of the doubleacting piston and cylinder mechanism controlling the movement of the turning mechanism 150. Thus, 'when the movable cutting blade 132 has effected its cutting action, the switches 332 and 333 will be actuated to operate the solenoid 334 to open the valve 335 through the conduit 336 to cause rearward movement of the shaft 161 of the piston and cylinder mechanism 160 to cause a turning forward movement of the suction box 151. At this point, the suction in the suction box 151 has already been actuated and the individually cut article A has been sucked onto the suction box.

As the suction box 151 moves forwardly to the end of its path of linear travel, a pair of switches 340 and 341 are engaged thereby. The switch 340 is operatively connected with the clutch 215 and the brake 216 on the roll 174 controlling the set of conveyor belts such that upon actuation of the switch 340, the clutch 215 will be disengaged and the brake 216 engaged to stop movement of the conveyor belts 170 for reception of the individually cut article being turned by the turning means while the belts 170 are in stationary position. Upon disengagement of the switch 340 by the turning box 151, the clutch 215 will be engaged and the brake 216 disengaged to allow continued feeding movement of the conveyor belts 170.

The switch 341 is operatively connected with the solenoid 316 such that when engaged by the turning box 151 reaching the forward position in its path of travel, the switch 341 will disengage the solenoid 316 to shut-off the source of suction through the turning box 151 to release the individually cut article onto the conveyor belts 170 in the turned condition thereof. The switch 341 is also operatively connected with a solenoid 342 on the other side of valve 335 so as to reverse the action of piston and cylinder mechanism 160 to cause the turning box 151 to return to the rearward position for reception of the next successive individually cut article A.

While only a portion of the controls of the apparatus 10 of this invention have been illustrated schematically in FIG.'6A, FIG. 7 includes a schematic wiring diagram of these and other controls for this apparatus and additional details of the abovedescribed controls and additional details of the overall apparatus controls may be seen therein. The wiring diagram of FIG. 7 is such as to be understood by anyone with ordinary skill in the art and further detailed description herein is not deemed necessary.

The individually cut and turned article A now resting on the set of conveyor belts 170 is fed through the remainder of the apparatus 10 along with each successive individually cut article A by a second feeding means, generally indicated at 172 in FIG. 3, which includes the set of conveyor belts 170. This second feeding means 172 feeds the successive individual articles A along the above-mentioned longitudinal axis through the apparatus 10 in a zigzag forward and reverse path of travel.

From the conveyor belts 170, the individual articles A are passed on to another series or set of parallel mounted conveyor belts 176 carried by an idler roll 177 at the rearward end thereof which is mounted adjacent the roll 174 in suitable bearings on the apparatus frame 11. The conveyor belts 176 further pass around a pair of rolls 178 and 179 at their forward extremity and then pass around a driven roll 180 at the rearward extremity which is mounted in suitable bearings on the apparatus frame generally below and parallel with the roll 177, as may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The second feeding means 172 also includes a set of parallel conveyor belts 182 carried by rolls 183 and 184 on the rear end thereof and rolls 185 and 186 on the forward end thereof, as may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. Additionally, the second feeding means 172 includes a further set of parallel conveyor belts 190 carried around an idler roll 191 in the rearward extremity thereof and passing around rolls 192 and 193 at the forward extremity thereof. The set of conveyor belts 190 also passes around rolls 194 and 195 at an intermediate position thereof, the roll 194 being a driven roll.

Thus, through the above-described sets of conveyor belts, each of the individual articles A are successively transferred from the driven conveyor belts 170 onto the driven conveyor belts 176 for movement in a generally horizontal path of travel along the longitudinal axis through the apparatus 10. When the individual articles A have reached the forward extremity of the conveyor belts 176, they will move downwardly in a generally vertical path of travel and be contacted at the leading edge thereof by a continuous stream of air extruded from a hollow conduit 200 which passes transversely across the conveyor belts 176, in the manner shown in FIG. 6B. The leading edge of each successive individual article A will then pass reach the forward extremity of the belts 190 as they pass around the roll 192. For driving the above-described rolls and sets of conveyor belts carried thereby, there ,is' provided a single motor means 205 (see FIG. 3). The motor means 205 has a pulley 206 on the forward end of the drive shaft therefrom which carries a belt 207 also passing around a pulley 208 extending from a shaft in a speed reduction unit 209. The speed reduction unit 209 includes a first shaft 210 carrying a sprocket 211 on the forward end thereof.

The sprocket 211 carries a chain 212 which passes around a sprocket 213 secured to a shaft 214 which extends from the which the set of conveyor belts 182 pass for driving the con- I between rolls 179 and 185 and between conveyor belts 176 and 182. Each of the successive individual articles A will be sandwiched between the lower portion of the conveyor belts 176 and the upper portion of the conveyor belts 182 to be moved in a generally horizontal path of travel in a rearward direction.

When each of the individual articles A have reached the rearward extremity of the conveyor belts 182, they will then pass in a generally vertical path of travel downwardly around the rolls 183 and 184 on the conveyor belts 182. The leading edge of each successive individual article A will then be contacted by another stream of air continuously extruded from a conduit 201 which extends transversely across the apparatus 10 in the manner shown in FIG. 6B. This stream of air will cause the individual articles A to pass around the roll 184 and be disposed on top of the set of conveyor belts 190 and be sandwiched between the lower portion of the conveyor belts 182 and the top portion ofthe conveyor belts 190. Each of the articles will then be fed in a generally horizontal forwardly extending path oftravel between the conveyor belts 182 and 190 until they reach the roll 186 at which point the path oftravel extends generally angularly upwardly until the individual articles are passed over the roll 195 at which time they will be fed forwardly in a generally horizontal path of travel until they roll 174 carrying the conveyor belts for driving the conveyor belts 170. The shaft 214 includes the clutch 215 on one side of the roll 174 and the brake 216 on the other side of the roll 174 so that, upon activation of the clutch 215 and deactivation of the brake 216, the roll 174 will be driven through the shaft 214 and its related connections back to the motor means 205 and when the clutch is disengaged and the brake engaged, the drive of the roll 174 will'be stopped and the conveying action of the belts 170 will be stopped.

The chain 212 also passes around a sprocket 220 carried by a shaft 221 which is secured to the roll around which the set of conveyor belts 176 pass for driving the conveyor belts 176 in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 3. The forward end of the shaft 221 carries a gear'222 which meshes with a gear 223 secured to a shaft 224 extending from the roll 183 around veyor belts 182 in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 3.

The shaft 221 also carries a sprocket 225 around which passes a chain 226 which is supported by idler sprockets 227, 228 and 229 and passes around sprocket 230 on shaft 231 and around sprocket 232 on shaft 233. The shaft 233 extends from the roll 186 for driving same along with conveyor belts 1.82. The shaft 233 also includes a sprocket 235 which carries a chain 236 which passes around another sprocket 237-on a shaft 238. The shaft 238 extends from the roll for driving same and for driving the conveyor belts 182. The shaft 238 also extends from the other side of roll 185 and contains a sprocket 240 thereon which carries a chain 241 which also passes around a sprocket 242 on the end of shaft 243 extend ing from the roll 178 for driving same and for aiding in driving the belts 176. The shaft 231 extends from the roll 194 for driving the roll 194 and for driving the set of belts passing therealong. The belts 190 are also driven by frictional contact with the belts 182.

Thus, it may be seen that the second feeding means 172 includes a single motor means 205 and interconnected drive means driven by the motor means and operatively connected with various portions of the second feeding means for driving the various portions of the second feeding means in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the individual articles A in succession through the apparatus 10. This type of feeding means controlled by a single motor means and by interconnected drive means eliminates the possibility of malfunction which would occur if various motor means were utilized.

For stitching the remaining longitudinally extending side edges of each of the successively fed individual articles A as they are fed by the above-described feeding means 172, there is provided third and fourth stitching means 245 and 246 for applying lines of stitching, preferably overedge stitching, along the remaining longitudinally extending edges of the successively fed individual articles A as they are fed by the second feeding means 172.

The stitching means 245 comprises a driven sewing machine 247 of conventional design for applying a line of overedge stitching. The sewing machine 247 is driven by a pulley 248 extending from the drive shaft thereof and disposed on the rear end of the machine 247. The pulley 248 is driven by a belt 249 which is, in tum,-driven by a pulley 250 (see FIG. 3) secured on the end of a stub shaft 251 which carries a pulley 252 on the other end thereof. A belt 253 passes around the pulley 252 and around a group of idler pulleys to extend back to a pulley 254 carried on .the end of a shaft 269 extending from the speed reduction unit 209 and driven by the motor means 205.

The sewing machine 247 is suitably mounted stationary on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and is mounted to one side of the set of belts 176 for stitching along the right-hand longitudinally extending side of each of the successively fed individual articles A as they are fed along the upper pathof travel of the belts 176, as may be clearly seen in FIGS. 3 and 6B. The sewing machine 247 applies a continuous line of overedge stitching along the right-hand longitudinal edge of the individual articles A including a connecting chain of stitches between each of the articles A, as may be seen in FIG. 6B.

The fourth stitching means 246 comprises a driven sewing machine 255 of conventional design for applying a line of overedge stitching. The sewing machine 255 is driven by a pulley 256 extending from the drive shaft thereof and disposed on the rear end of machine 255. The pulley 256 is driven by a belt 257 which is in turn driven by a suitable pulley (not shown) extending from a shaft 258 which includes a pulley 259 on the forward end thereof. The pulley 259 is in frictional engagement and driven by the belt 253 which also drives the sewing machine 247.

The sewing machine 255 is mounted stationary on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and is disposed on the other side of the apparatus from the sewing machine 247 in a position so as to engage and stitch the left-hand longitudinally extending sides of eachof the successively fed individual articles A as they are passed in a rearward generally horizontal path of travel while sandwiched between the sets of conveyor belts 176 and 182. The sewing machine 255, like the sewing machine 247, applies a continuous line of overedge stitching such that a connecting chain stitch is presented between each successive individual article A as they are stitched and both sewing machines 247 and 255 may include edge trimmers (not shown).

For removing the longitudinally extending connecting chain of stitches between each successively fed individual article A after having been stitched on each of the remaining longitudinally extending sides by the sewing means 245 and the sewing means 246, there is provided cutting means 260 and 261 mounted on each longitudinally extending side of the in.- dividual articles A on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 and in such a position as to sever the connecting stitch chain at the rear thereof first and then at the front thereof.

Referring particularly to FIG. 6B, the cutting means 260 comprises a scissors-type cutting mechanism 262 suitably mounted on a portion of the apparatus frame 11 so that the blades thereof extend in overlapping relationship to the lefthand longitudinal edge of each of the successively fed individual articles A as they are fed in a generally rearward horizontal path of travel while sandwiched between the conveyor belts 176 and 182. The scissors-type cutter 262 is operatively connected with a photoelectric cell 263 in any suitable manner well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art such that the photoelectric cell 263 will sense the leading edge of each individually cut article A and actuate the cutter 262 to cut the connecting stitch chain at the rear end thereof adjacent the leading edge of the individual article A.

When this first cutting operation is effected, a loose stitch chain will be produced which will be hanging at the front end thereof from the trailing edge of the previous successive inthereof, which is attached to the trailing end of the previous individual article A, will pass through a pair of driven rotary cutters 267 and 268 cutting the forward end of the stitch chain and allowing the entire stitch chain to be sucked away by the vacuum conduit 265.

The cutter 267 is mounted on a shaft 270 and the cutter 268 is mounted on a shaft 271. Both of the shafts 270 and 271 include gears 272 and 273 intermeshing with each other so that the shafts will be driven together. The shafts 270 and 271 are mounted for rotation in suitable bearings on the apparatus frame 11. The forward end of the shaft 271 includes a pulley 275 which carries a belt 276 which also passes around a pulley 277 on the shaft 211 so that the rotary cutters 267 and 268 are driven from the motor means 205 through the abovedescribed connections to the shaft 211.

The cutting means 261 is disposed on the opposite side of the apparatus along the opposite longitudinally extending edge of the individual articles A and include the exact same apparatus as the cutting means 260 for performing the same function on the opposite side of the individual articles A. The cutting means 261 includes a scissors-type cutter 280 carried by the machine frame and overlying the opposite longitudinally extending edge of the individual articles A and actuated by a photoelectric cell 281 in the same manner and for the same purpose as the cutter 262. A vacuum conduit 283 operates in the same manner as the vacuum conduit 265 to suck the loose stitch chain therein after cutting by the scissorstype cutter 280 for perpendicular positioning of the loose stitch chain. A pair of rotary cutters 284 and 285 are mounted on the other end of the shafts 270 and 271, respectively, for cutting off the remaining portion of the loose stitch chain as the individual articles are fed forwardly through the apparatus 10 in the same manner as the rotary cutters 267 and 268.

The above-described mechanism per se for removing the connecting stitch chain between individual articles A is more fully described in copending applicationSer. No. 853,223, filed Aug. 26, 1969, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, and reference may be had to that applica tion for full details of the operation thereof.

Thus, as the individual articles A are fed around the rolls 183 and 184 and in a generally forward horizontal path of travel between the belts 182 and 190, as described above, they have been stitched along all four sides thereof and connecting stitch chains between individual articles on each longitudinally extending side have been removed to form a completely fabricated individual article A, as shown in FIG. 2.

The articles are fed forwardly, as described above, until they reach the rolls 192 and 193 at which point they are allowed to drape over the roll 192 to extend in the generally downwardly vertical position. An air conveying conduit 290 extends tranversely across the apparatus on the inside of the belts and has a plurality of apertures therein for exerting intermittent streams of air perpendicularly across the path of travel of the belts 190 as they pass around the rolls 192 and 193, as may be seen in FIG. 6B. These streams of air will cause dofiing or removal of each of the articles A and cause them to be stacked onto a stacking bar means 293.

The air conduit 290 is operatively connected with a pressure source through a valve 294, shown schematically in FIG. 6B. The valve 294 is operatively connected with a photoelectric cell 295 through any suitable sample circuit, as shown schematically in FIG. 6B, such that the photoelectric cell 295 will sense each individual article A as they are fed forwardly by the conveyor belts 190 and will actuate the valve 294 to allow a stream of air to be emitted from the conduit 290 at the proper time when each of the individual articles A are in position for doffing or removal.

Thus, it may be seen that this invention has provided an apparatus for completely and automatically fabricating individual articles, such as blankets and the like, from a continuous length of textile material. In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferred embodiments of this invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for automatically fabricating individual articles such as blankets and the like from a continuous length of textile material, said apparatus comprising:

a. supply means for supplying a continuous length of textile material;

b. first interrelated, intertimed feeding means for feeding the continuous length of material from said supply means in an elongate path of travel along a longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus;

c. first and second driven stitching means disposed adjacent said supply means in the path of travel of the continuous length of material for applying lines of stitching along the longitudinal edges of the continuous length of textile material;

d. cutting means disposed adjacent said first and second stitching means in the path of travel of the continuous length of material for transversely cutting the continuous length of material into a plurality of successive individual articles of a predetermined length;

e. turning means disposed adjacent said cutting means for successively turning each individually cut article 90 for continued travel through said apparatus; second interrelated, intertimed feeding means operatively associated with said turning means for receiving the individually cut articles from said turning means and feeding them in a continued elongate path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus; and

g. third and fourth driven stitching means disposed in the path of travel of the individually cut articles for applying lines of stitching along the cut edges of each of the individually cut articles so that each of the articles will be stitched along all four of its edges.

2. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said first feeding means includes a single motor means and interconnected drive means driven by said motor means and operatively connected with various portions of said first feeding means for driving the various portions of said first feeding means in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the continuous length of material through said apparatus, and in which said second feeding means includes a separate single motor means and interconnected drive means driven by said motor means and operatively connected with various portions of said second feeding means for driving the various portions of said second feeding means in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the individually cut articles through said apparatus.

3. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said supply means comprises a roll stand means for carrying at least one supply roll of a continuous length of textile material, driven feed roll means for feeding the continuous length of textile material from said roll stand means, and a scray means for receiving an excess amount of the continuous length of material from said feed roll means and supplying the continuous length of material to said first feeding means for travel through said apparatus, said scray means including means for stopping operation of said feed roll means when the predetermined excess amount of the continuous length of material has been received in said scray means.

4. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which at least one of said first and second stitching means comprises a movable sewing machine, carriage means for supporting said sewing machine and for allowing linear forward and reverse move ment of said sewing machine in a direction transverse to the continuous length of material and to the path of travel of the material through said apparatus, fluid operated means operatively connected with said carriage means for moving said sewing machine in its forward and reverse directions, and edge sensing means operatively connected with said fluid operated means for sensing the position of one of the longitudinal edges of the continuous length of material and for controlling the machine will be aligned with the edge of the material for proper stitching thereof.

5. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, in which said apparatus further comprises a pair of movable, material aligning, nip roll means for receiving the continuous length of material in advance of stitching by said first and second stitching means and for moving back and forth in a direction transverse to the continuous length of material and to the path of travel of the material through the machine for moving the continuous length of material transversely for proper alignment, fluid operated means operatively connected with said nip roll means for moving said nip roll means, and edge sensing means operatively connected with said fluid operated means for sensing the position of the other longitudinal edge of the continuous length of material and for controlling the operation of said fluid operated means to move said nip roll means for aligning the continuous length of material for proper registration with the other of said first and second stitching means for proper stitching.

6. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said first feed ing means includes means for interrupting operation of at least a portion of said first feeding means for stopping the feed of the continuous length of material during operation of said cutting means and during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure an even cutting thereof into successive individual articles of a predetermined length and to insure proper turning of the individual articles.

7. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said second feeding means includes means for interrupting operation of at least a portion of said second feeding means for stopping the feeding action thereof during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure proper reception of the individually cut articles from said turning means.

8. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said turning means comprises a movable suction box means mounted adjacent said cutting means above the individual articles cut thereby for reciprocating forward and reverse movement in a linear path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus while rotating 90 during each of the forward and reverse strokes of its path of travel, and actuating means for creating a suction in said suction box means during the forward stroke of its reciprocating movement and for releasing the suction during the reverse stroke of its movement, so that each of the individually cut articles will be sucked onto said suction box means and rotated 90 during the forward stroke of said suction box means and released therefrom in the turned position during the reverse stroke of said suction box for continued feeding through said apparatus by said second feeding means.

9. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 8, in which said first feeding means for feeding the continuous length of material includes a driven conveyor means at the terminating end thereof which is disposed adjacent said cutting means and beneath said turning means in its rearward position for feeding the continuous length of material past said cutting means to allow cutting thereof and for presenting the cut article to said tuming means for the turning thereof, and in which said second feeding means for feeding the individually cut articles includes a driven conveyor means at the beginning end thereof which is disposed adjacent said conveyor means of said first feeding means and beneath said turning means in its forward position for receiving the turned individually cut articles from said turning means and feeding them therefrom.

10. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said turning means comprises a movable suction box means mounted adjacent said cutting means above the individual articles cut thereby for reciprocating forward and reverse movement in a linear path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus while rotating 90 during each of the forward and reverse strokes of its path of travel and actuating means for creating a suction in said suction box means during the forward stroke of its reciprocating movement and operation of said fluid operated means so that said sewing for releasing the suction during the reverse stroke of its movement so that each of the individually cut articles will be sucked onto said suction box means and rotated 90 during the forward stroke of said suction box means and released therefrom in the turned position during the reverse stroke of said suction box means for continued feeding through said apparatus by said second feeding means; in which said first feeding means for the feeding the continuous length of material includes a driven conveyor means at the terminating end thereof which is disposed adjacent said cutting means and beneath said turning means in its rearward position for feeding the continuous length of material past said cutting means to allow cutting thereof and for presenting the cut article to said turning means for the turning thereof, said first feeding means including means forv interrupting operation of said driven conveyor means forming a part thereof for stopping the feed of the continuous length of material during operation of said cutting means and during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure an even cutting thereof into successive individual articles of a predetermined length and to insure proper sucking of the individually cut articles onto said turning means for the turning thereof; and in which said second feeding means for feeding the individually cut articles includes a driven conveyor means at the beginning end thereof which is disposed adjacent said conveyor means of said first feeding means and beneath said turning means in its forward position for receiving the turned individually cut articles from said turning means and feeding them therefrom, said second feeding means including means for interrupting operation of said driven conveyor means forming a part thereof for stopping the feeding action thereof during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure proper reception of the individually cut articles from said cutting means when the suction thereof is released and the individually cut articles are released therefrom.

11. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said third and fourth stitching means each applies a line of stitching along the cut edge of the spaced-apart individually cut articles with a connecting chain of stitches therebetween, and in which said apparatus includes cutting means associated with each of said third and fourth stitching means for cutting the connecting chain of stitches at the trailing and leading transverse edges of the individually cut articles for separating same.

12. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 11, in which each of said cutting means comprises a first cutter for cutting the connecting chain of stitches at the leading end of the individually cut articles passing thereby, edge sensing means for sensing the leading end of the individually cut articles and for actuating said first cutter, a second cutter for cutting the connecting chain of stitches at the trailing end of the individually cut articles after cutting thereof by said first cutter, and suction means for receiving the connecting chain of stitches after cuttingby said first cutter and for positioning the chain of stitches for cutting by said second cutter.

13. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 12, in which said first cutter comprises a scissors-type cutter, said edge sensing means comprises photoelectric cell sensing means, said second cutter comprises a pair of superimposed, circular, continuously operating rotary cutter wheels, and said suction means comprises an elongate hollow conduit having an open end positioned adjacent said cutter wheels for sucking the cut end of the chain of stitches therein so that the uncut end will pass through said cutter wheels as the individual articles are fed forwardly through said apparatus.

14. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said apparatus comprises a stacking means at the terminating end thereof for stacking the individual fabricated articles for removal by an operator.

UNITED S'I'A'IES PATENT ()FFIFR (IER'IIFHIA'III Ul (IURRECTIUN Patent No. 198 Dat d May 25, 1971 Richard K. Teed, Greenwood, South Carolina Inventor(s) Karl W. Klose, Findlay, Ohio It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Abstract, Line 10, after 'length of" insert textile material. Cutting means transversely cutting the continuous length of--. Column 1, Line 15, "nd" should be --and-. Column 2, Line 47, after "and a roll" insert l5-- deleting -l4. Column 3, Line 24, after "on" insert a portion of the apparatus frame 11. These rolls are mounted for movement. Same column, Line 73, after "sprocket" insert "64. The sprocket 64 drives a chain 65 which also passes around a sprocket-- Column 4, Line ll, after pulley" insert --80. Column 13, Line 1,

I" should be is-.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of October 1971 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHEH,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer A ting Commissioner of Patents FORM PO1050(10-69) USCOMM DC 5o375 p5Q 0 u s GUVUINMENI Pmm'mr. orncr van 0-3054." 

1. Apparatus for automatically fabricating individual articles such as blankets and the like from a continuous length of textile material, said apparatus comprising: a. supply means for supplying a continuous length of textile material; b. first interrelated, intertimed feeding means for feeding the continuous length of material from said supply means in an elongate path of travel along a longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus; c. first and second driven stitching means disposed adjacent said supply means in the path of travel of the continuous length of material for applying lines of stitching along the longitudinal edges of the continuous length of textile material; d. cutting means disposed adjacent said first and second stitching means in the path of travel of the continuous length of material for transversely cutting the continuous length of material into a plurality of successive individual articles of a predetermined length; e. turning means disposed adjacent said cutting means for successively turning each individually cut article 90* for continued travel through said apparatus; f. second interrelated, intertimed feeding means operatively associated with said turning means for receiving the individually cut articles from said turning means and feeding them in a continued elongate path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus; and g. third and fourth driven stitching means disposed in the path of travel of the individually cut articles for applying lines of stitching along the cut edges of each of the individually cut articles so that each of the articles will be stitched along all four of its edges.
 2. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said first feeding means includes a single motor means and interconnected drive means driven by said motor means and operatively connecteD with various portions of said first feeding means for driving the various portions of said first feeding means in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the continuous length of material through said apparatus, and in which said second feeding means includes a separate single motor means and interconnected drive means driven by said motor means and operatively connected with various portions of said second feeding means for driving the various portions of said second feeding means in predetermined, interrelated and intertimed relationship for obtaining proper feeding of the individually cut articles through said apparatus.
 3. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said supply means comprises a roll stand means for carrying at least one supply roll of a continuous length of textile material, driven feed roll means for feeding the continuous length of textile material from said roll stand means, and a scray means for receiving an excess amount of the continuous length of material from said feed roll means and supplying the continuous length of material to said first feeding means for travel through said apparatus, said scray means including means for stopping operation of said feed roll means when the predetermined excess amount of the continuous length of material has been received in said scray means.
 4. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which at least one of said first and second stitching means comprises a movable sewing machine, carriage means for supporting said sewing machine and for allowing linear forward and reverse movement of said sewing machine in a direction transverse to the continuous length of material and to the path of travel of the material through said apparatus, fluid operated means operatively connected with said carriage means for moving said sewing machine in its forward and reverse directions, and edge sensing means operatively connected with said fluid operated means for sensing the position of one of the longitudinal edges of the continuous length of material and for controlling the operation of said fluid operated means so that said sewing machine will be aligned with the edge of the material for proper stitching thereof.
 5. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, in which said apparatus further comprises a pair of movable, material aligning, nip roll means for receiving the continuous length of material in advance of stitching by said first and second stitching means and for moving back and forth in a direction transverse to the continuous length of material and to the path of travel of the material through the machine for moving the continuous length of material transversely for proper alignment, fluid operated means operatively connected with said nip roll means for moving said nip roll means, and edge sensing means operatively connected with said fluid operated means for sensing the position of the other longitudinal edge of the continuous length of material and for controlling the operation of said fluid operated means to move said nip roll means for aligning the continuous length of material for proper registration with the other of said first and second stitching means for proper stitching.
 6. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said first feeding means includes means for interrupting operation of at least a portion of said first feeding means for stopping the feed of the continuous length of material during operation of said cutting means and during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure an even cutting thereof into successive individual articles of a predetermined length and to insure proper turning of the individual articles.
 7. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said second feeding means includes means for interrupting operation of at least a portion of said second feeding means for stopping the feeding action thereof during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure proper reception of the indIvidually cut articles from said turning means.
 8. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said turning means comprises a movable suction box means mounted adjacent said cutting means above the individual articles cut thereby for reciprocating forward and reverse movement in a linear path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus while rotating 90* during each of the forward and reverse strokes of its path of travel, and actuating means for creating a suction in said suction box means during the forward stroke of its reciprocating movement and for releasing the suction during the reverse stroke of its movement, so that each of the individually cut articles will be sucked onto said suction box means and rotated 90* during the forward stroke of said suction box means and released therefrom in the turned position during the reverse stroke of said suction box for continued feeding through said apparatus by said second feeding means.
 9. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 8, in which said first feeding means for feeding the continuous length of material includes a driven conveyor means at the terminating end thereof which is disposed adjacent said cutting means and beneath said turning means in its rearward position for feeding the continuous length of material past said cutting means to allow cutting thereof and for presenting the cut article to said turning means for the turning thereof, and in which said second feeding means for feeding the individually cut articles includes a driven conveyor means at the beginning end thereof which is disposed adjacent said conveyor means of said first feeding means and beneath said turning means in its forward position for receiving the turned individually cut articles from said turning means and feeding them therefrom.
 10. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said turning means comprises a movable suction box means mounted adjacent said cutting means above the individual articles cut thereby for reciprocating forward and reverse movement in a linear path of travel along the aforesaid longitudinally extending axis through said apparatus while rotating 90* during each of the forward and reverse strokes of its path of travel and actuating means for creating a suction in said suction box means during the forward stroke of its reciprocating movement and for releasing the suction during the reverse stroke of its movement so that each of the individually cut articles will be sucked onto said suction box means and rotated 90* during the forward stroke of said suction box means and released therefrom in the turned position during the reverse stroke of said suction box means for continued feeding through said apparatus by said second feeding means; in which said first feeding means for the feeding the continuous length of material includes a driven conveyor means at the terminating end thereof which is disposed adjacent said cutting means and beneath said turning means in its rearward position for feeding the continuous length of material past said cutting means to allow cutting thereof and for presenting the cut article to said turning means for the turning thereof, said first feeding means including means for interrupting operation of said driven conveyor means forming a part thereof for stopping the feed of the continuous length of material during operation of said cutting means and during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure an even cutting thereof into successive individual articles of a predetermined length and to insure proper sucking of the individually cut articles onto said turning means for the turning thereof; and in which said second feeding means for feeding the individually cut articles includes a driven conveyor means at the beginning end thereof which is disposed adjacent said conveyor means of said first feeding means and beneath said turning means in its forward position for receiving the turNed individually cut articles from said turning means and feeding them therefrom, said second feeding means including means for interrupting operation of said driven conveyor means forming a part thereof for stopping the feeding action thereof during at least a portion of the operation of said turning means to insure proper reception of the individually cut articles from said cutting means when the suction thereof is released and the individually cut articles are released therefrom.
 11. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said third and fourth stitching means each applies a line of stitching along the cut edge of the spaced-apart individually cut articles with a connecting chain of stitches therebetween, and in which said apparatus includes cutting means associated with each of said third and fourth stitching means for cutting the connecting chain of stitches at the trailing and leading transverse edges of the individually cut articles for separating same.
 12. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 11, in which each of said cutting means comprises a first cutter for cutting the connecting chain of stitches at the leading end of the individually cut articles passing thereby, edge sensing means for sensing the leading end of the individually cut articles and for actuating said first cutter, a second cutter for cutting the connecting chain of stitches at the trailing end of the individually cut articles after cutting thereof by said first cutter, and suction means for receiving the connecting chain of stitches after cutting by said first cutter and for positioning the chain of stitches for cutting by said second cutter.
 13. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 12, in which said first cutter comprises a scissors-type cutter, said edge sensing means comprises photoelectric cell sensing means, said second cutter comprises a pair of superimposed, circular, continuously operating rotary cutter wheels, and said suction means comprises an elongate hollow conduit having an open end positioned adjacent said cutter wheels for sucking the cut end of the chain of stitches therein so that the uncut end will pass through said cutter wheels as the individual articles are fed forwardly through said apparatus.
 14. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said apparatus comprises a stacking means at the terminating end thereof for stacking the individual fabricated articles for removal by an operator. 